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Who Belongs within the Circle of Human Concern?
Our new animated video highlights a fundamental tenet of the vision of the Haas Institute—that in a flourishing democracy, belonging is the most important endowment we share with one another. As narrator john a. powell notes in this new short piece, "Only those who fully belong may select who belongs, [who] may participate to define the rights of members, and which needs must be met by the community." Examining how our lives are divided into public space, private space, corporate space, and a fourth space that we call non-public/non-private space, is a way to critically engage with how these spheres influence our lives, our rights, and our ability to make demands on the institutions and structures that shape our society. Using this framework of Belonging, the video illustrates how these spaces are divided, who has or doesn't have access to these spaces, and what we can do to change the dynamics so that all people—and not corporations—are at the center of the circle of human concern. Watch our new video.
Special thanks to Column Five for creating this work with us!
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Missing the Bigger Picture on Segregation
School segregation is an ongoing, pervasive problem that disproportionately affects students of color, but the causes are not always obvious. Multiple factors, including poverty, impact the numbers in somewhat surprising ways. In a new blog post on the subject, our Senior Fellow Richard Rothstein highlights how a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report contributes to continued misleading information about school segregation. "The takeaway line of the GAO report was: From school years 2000–01 to 2013–14, the percentage of all K–12 public schools that had high percentages of poor and Black or Hispanic students grew from 9 to 16 percent," wrote Rothstein, but he examines how "such growth can be due to an increase in schools that had high percentages of poor students, or high percentages of Black students, or high percentages of Hispanic students—or all three. Because the report does not present any data disaggregated in this way, it is impossible to tell whether the growth from 9 to 16 percent was due to a growth in poverty or a growth in minority concentration." Read the blog post.
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How Racial Identity and Implicit Bias Contribute to New Identities
In a series of talks Director john a. powell gave to multiple groups in Humboldt County, California earlier last month, he touched on themes of identity, the changing demographics of America, and what neuroscience research is teaching us about racial anxiety and implicit bias. Invited by the Humboldt Area Foundation and given to members of the public, including Humboldt State University students and staff, powell discussed how fear of the Other has splintered our ability to work together to move toward a more inclusive society. This fear culminates in stereotypes and is reinforced by media and everyday interactions that push people outside of the circle of human concern.
In an write-up by Humboldt resident Paul Mann, some of powell's teachings were summarized for a broad audience. powell talked about how neuroscience research reveals how racial anxiety triggers a fear of the Other and the cultural imprint—which feeds both racial anxiety and deeply embedded stereotypes. He also discussed his thoughts on how society can move towards a more inclusive, compassionate future, embrace our interconnectedness, acknowledge our biases, and challenge old racial fears—instead of succumbing to them and perpetuating the falsehood of a post-racial society. The talks were given in Eureka, Crescent City, and Arcata. Read more about these talks.
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Leveling the Playing Field with the Racial Equity Here Initiative
The Government Alliance for Race and Equity, a joint project of the Center for Social Inclusion and the Haas Institute, announced the Racial Equity Here initiative in conjunction with Living Cities. The first cohort of cities, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Austin, Texas; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Louisville, Kentucky; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will conduct racial equity assessments of their core government operations. The focus will be on youth of color between 16 and 24 years of age, who are either unemployed or out of school. Learn more.
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We Too Belong: A Resource Guide of Inclusive Practices in Immigration and Incarceration Law and Policy, is a new menu of inclusive practices that promote the civic participation and provision of public services to immigrant, incarcerated, and formerly incarcerated individuals and communities. The guide covers areas such as access to courts, education, safe housing, health care services, benefits, identification cards, and employment, that are critical to building a more inclusive society. It also features nine personal perspectives from individuals living and working at the intersection of immigration and incarceration. Download the report.
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The Haas Institute's latest newsletter features articles on "Voting Rights for the Incarcerated & Immigrants," "Race and Literature in 2015," and "Women & STEM: It's Not Just a Matter of Numbers." Download this issue.
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Food Justice and Community Health in Richmond explores strategies to facilitate more deeply-engaged partnerships between UC Berkeley and the Richmond community, which struggles with an array of structural barriers to opportunity, such as poverty and food and environmentally-related health challenges, which mirror those of many other low-income neighborhoods across the US. Download the report.
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Redefining Latinx Success: What it Means for the Community and Ourselves
"I don’t know who came up with the idea that one can be successful while our brothers and sisters (here and abroad) are being killed, deported, locked up, and dehumanized. But that is not my definition of success," wrote Stephanie Llanes, a recent graduate of Berkeley Law and Haas Institute research assistant. She continued, "I am a part of my community and my community is a part of me. My community—we—will not be successful while so many of us are being targeted and hurt. I can’t be successful when the country that I live in is telling me that people who look like me, talk like me, and dance like me do not belong." Llanes' blog post examines what success really means for the Latinx community, and how it can be redefined based on its own priorities and needs. Read the blog post.
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Resettling Refugees in the United States
"The global need for refugee resettlement is at a historically high level. The United Nations stated last year that more people have been forced from their homes because of war, persecution, or natural disaster than at any other time since the organization began keeping detailed records. In response, the UN has called on member states to resettle a total of 450,000 Syrian refugees by 2018," wrote Keith Welch, a research assistant at the Haas Institute. Welch explains the conflict that stems from denying refugees the chance to settle in the United States, particularly since acceptance of refugees is one of this country's longstanding values. Read more.
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Housing Segregation Undergirds Nation’s Racial Inequities
Haas Institute Senior Fellow Richard Rothstein examines a case in Yuma, Arizona that uses a Supreme Court decision influenced by an amicus brief submitted by the Haas Institute last June. Rothstein noted, "Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion concluded that housing policies must be avoided that have the effect of reinforcing segregation, regardless of policymakers’ provable intent, unless an agency enacting such a policy can show that there was no reasonable alternative to segregation as a way to accomplish legitimate housing objectives." Read the blog post.
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